I was probably around 7 years old when my best friend told me something I didn't quite believe; he claimed that there was a wall in China that goes across the entire country. At the time I doubted this claim; surely I would have heard about this 'wall' before from someone more authoritative than my friend if it truly existed, and my friend was know to me to have a somewhat tenuous relationship the truth. But as I stood there listening I decided that perhaps there was truth in what he was saying. Of course, growing up in the 70's, there was really only one definitive source for reliable information; the Encyclopedia Britannica set on our bookshelf. I ran into the den where the well-worn set o
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